Posts published in September, 2009

“Name a well-known university. Move the last letter three places earlier in the name. The result will be a phrase meaning ‘represent.’ What’s the university and what’s the phrase?” “Stanford” and “Stand for.” Joe Gregory of Windsor, Colo., said it didn’t take him long to come up with the answers to the Sept. 20 Sunday… Read more What's in a name?

Fans of Stanford’s Facebook page were invited to answer the question “What was the best book you read this summer?” and asked to submit a short poem or haiku on their favorite summer book. ANDREA LUNSFORD, professor of English and director of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, judged the contest. Among the more than… Read more Stanford's Facebook page inspires poetry

Hugging and kissing are sooo last year. On Sunday, just before introducing The Peace, a segment of the University Public Worship service in which members of the assembly in MemChu traditionally greet one another with hugs and handshakes, the Rev. JOANNE SANDERS, associate dean for religious life, asked congregants to think about other forms of… Read more Stanford traditions bow to swine flu

They may cheer for the Golden Bears or the Tigers or the Crimson now, but they have roots with the Cardinal and the Tree. Four Stanford alums are among the 24 newly anointed winners of 2009 MacArthur Fellowships, commonly known as “genius grants.” DANIEL SIGMAN, professor of geological and geophysical sciences at Princeton, earned his… Read more Sheer genius

In a new twist on “How I spent my summer vacation,” here’s what some Stanford students didn’t do: tie the knot. In response to the passage last November of Proposition 8, a group of undergrads launched the National Marriage Boycott (NMB) and have vowed to swear off marriage until the federal government repeals the Defense… Read more What they did during summer vacation

Congratulations to . . . Stanford and SLAC physicist AHARON KAPITULNIK, who received the 2009 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Prize for Outstanding Superconductivity Experiments earlier this month at the Ninth International Conference on Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity in Tokyo. Kapitulnik, who is chair of the Department of Applied Physics, shared the prize with Brookhaven National… Read more Congratulations!

Talisman a capella began the&nbsp; school year on a high note. At the Children’s Health Council’s benefit concert at Frost Amphitheatre on Sept. 12, the Stanford singers joined Seal for a rendition of the ‘60s hit “People Get Ready.”

Stanford is wacky for its walks. In addition to the nontraditional Commencement processional, there is the more reflective “Walk the Farm” event, led by history professors DAVID KENNEDY and RICHARD WHITE, and based on the Midwestern practice of walking the perimeter of one’s property to stay in touch with the land. There also is the… Read more